Nov 29, 2013

A Different Blue by Amy Harmon (Autumn Taboo Review)

"Blue Echohawk doesn't
know who she is. She doesn't know her real name or when she was born.
Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn't attend school until
she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are
attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high
school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue
Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and
overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher
who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under
his wing.

This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody.
It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing
and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you
don't know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly
who they are and exactly why they can't love you back might be
impossible."

I did not expect this! Amy Harmon is one of the authors that few weeks back was quite anonymous, but after the hype surrounding Making Faces, she went on the list of authors you should look out for. I have to say I was sceptic because every time my Goodreads buddies start menage-gushing over some book or author, it looks like a set up (to be a complete bitch now) or I start to doubt their judgement after reading their latest object of affection. I believe it is understandable why I didn't expect very much when I started reading A Different Blue.

Is this a romance novel? In my opinion, it is not. Does it talks about taboo relationship? Again my answer would be no. Then what it is about? Real life drama with a little bit of mystery and romance and a lot of melodrama but put in this nice package that it could fool you how it is not one of those type of books. Quite enjoyable read.

Problem? There are several of them. Number one. British teacher cliche. Number two. Why does hot teacher always have to be so young? And tell me, do teachers start to work that young in American schools anyway? That is hard to believe. Number three? Bad girl who is actually not so bad cliche. Number four? It is not enough to include one sob story, but there have to be additional few. Number five? Family secrets melodrama. What is this? Spanish soap opera with its "I am my father's mother" plot twists?

Why did I like it in the end? I did not expected the way story will go - blurb made me believe that it would be quite different, I thought it would be more similar to Losing It by Cora Carmack. Main focus of the story is on Blue and her inner struggles, all of the reasons why she had to grow up so fast and difficult decisions she had to make. In a way, writing reminded me a little bit of Megan Hart with all wisdom and thinking about important things. Other thing that goes in favor to A Different Blue is that story doesn't go always as you would want it to go.

Who should read it? Everyone who read Making Faces and loved it. Everyone who likes their books with little bit more depth.